Modern-day mums manage the money

Most Popular

Family finances are no longer a job left to the men, as new research reveals that 98 per cent of mums play an 'active role' in their family's personal finances.

According to the survey from Health-on-Line they make purchasing decisions on everything from mortgages to medical insurance.

One in five mums said they were responsible for making all of their family’s personal finance decisions over the past two years, with nearly one in three saying they made at least half of them.

This shows a major change from the previous generation, with over one in three saying that their mothers played no role in the family finance decisions.

Health-on-Line commissioned this research to help them understand the purchasing preferences of mums as they increasingly control the personal finance purse strings.

When asked why she took responsibility for the family finances over the past two years, most mums said they were the family member who paid ‘the most attention to detail’, while confidence that she was the person ‘to get the best product for her family’ came in at a close second.

A surprising 68 women surveyed said they didn’t ‘trust’ their partners to manage the personal finances.

But while mums’ decision–making and purchasing power is at an all-time high, research reveals that trust is low with seven out of 10 women surveyed convinced that personal finance products use deliberately difficult language to ‘catch them out’.

Marie Clair, spokesperson for Plain English Campaign says: ‘Some of the worst jargon people have to deal with comes from the two worlds of financial services and healthcare.

"Health-on-Line are setting standards for the health insurance industry by achieving the Internet Crystal Mark. Our health and personal finances are at the top of the list when caring for our families, so crystal-clear information for healthcare insurance is a must. We all have a right to plain English information that helps us to deal with our responsibilities, and gives us confidence in our choices.”